Just Nod
by Call me Mad
Summary: Summary: He should have seen it coming, really. What chance did he ever have against the Great Artemis Fowl?


**Man, it's been forever since I've writen anything. This is my first try at Artemis Fowl. I got the idea after a book signing with Eoin Colfer. I don't know how much I like it. Sorry about how short it is. I tried , I did, but the plot bunny refused to say anything else.**

**Disclaimer: Let's see, I own... *looks around room* ummmm...I won those stuffed animals over there at a carnival - No, wait, my mom gave me the ticket money...**

**Just Nod**

An Artemis Fowl short story

Summary: He should have seen it coming, really. What chance did he ever have against the Great Artemis Fowl?

Trouble Kelp was not usually a nervous man – um, elf – but under the circumstances his nerves were quite acceptable. This was not some sort of recon mission or assignment. No, it was much scarier: he was here to pick up a Miss Holly Short for a _date_. And where is "here" you might ask? Well, it was sure not Holly's house. Nope, Trouble already stopped by there. And the police station. And the place where they were going for the date. He even went back to his own house to make sure that she didn't decide to pick _him _up. No sign of Captain Short anywhere.

For a few moments Trouble panicked and thought that maybe he had gotten the date and/or time wrong, even if he was the one who set the whole thing up. After checking and re-checking his calendar, he finally accepted that he had everything right. All he was missing was his date, and the flowers. _Oh no, where could they have gotten to? _Trouble sweated for a moment before realizing that the dozen red roses where still in his hand. _I will tell no one of this moment, _he silently resolved.

Anyway, after all those places he checked, Trouble figured that there was one place left, and he wasn't happy about it. That one place was the psychiatric facility that Artemis Fowl was currently checked into. The mudboy had stupidly meddled in things that should not have been meddled with, and then he turned up with the _Atlantis Complex_, a _fairy_ disease. Trouble thought that somehow it was a trick, but what could he do to prove it? If it was a trick then Fowl was an unbelievably good actor.

Trouble stopped in front of the white metal door that belonged to the room Artemis was staying in. After a full minute of pacing (yes, he counted) Trouble slowly slid the door open just enough for his head to peak around. His eyes gave a quick scan of the plain white room before coming to rest on the bed and chair in the middle of the room, or, more specifically, the people _in _the bed and chair.

Artemis Fowl was sitting propped against the head of his bed reading a rather large book that Trouble probably couldn't even pronounce the title of. Sitting in a chair at his side was Holly. Her head was cradled in her neatly folded hands resting on the bed. She was slumped over in her chair, fast asleep. Her hair fell messily over her forehead and Trouble watched as a clump of hair over her mouth blew up as she sighed in her sleep. She was gorgeous….and not Trouble's. She never would be, he realized.

The realization hit him like a sack of dwarf dung in the face. He must have made some sort of noise because at that moment the mudboy looked up from his book and met Troubles eyes. Trouble swallowed and looked back down at Holly.

"Take care of her, Mudboy." Trouble barely breathed the words, but the meaning must have made its way across because Artemis gave a slight but firm nod in return. That was it, a nod. There was no victorious speech or smug smile. Nothing. Maybe the boy really had changed after all. Trouble shook his head and looked back up into the boy's eyes, an exact mirror of Holly's, before turning and walking away. As he left the hospital he let himself a hollow laugh. He should have seen it coming, really. What chance did he ever have against the Great Artemis Fowl?

**AFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAF**

Back inside Artemis Fowl's hospital room, Holly Short slumbered on, completely unaware that her entire future had just been decided for her with a few words and a nod.

The End

**Please R&R?**

**If you don't I'll send the evil bunny of DOOM after you!**

**No, even worse: I'll send the evil bunny of DOOM's close cousin, the plot bunny, after you. You will suffer as it nibbles at you toes and gives you little story ideas!**


End file.
